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Match Centre

Historic first 15s contracts for Black Ferns

Seventeen Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 winners are among the 28 players handed the first Black Ferns contracts by New Zealand Rugby.

23/05/2018 08:25

Seventeen Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 winners are among the 28 players handed the first Black Ferns contracts by New Zealand Rugby on 23 May.

Among them is legendary hooker and World Cup winning captain Fiao’o Faamausili, who has put her retirement from international rugby on hold to bolster the experience among a squad combining experience with exciting new players.

“We are thrilled to offer Fi a contract. She is as fit as she’s ever been and is super passionate about being involved,” said coach Glenn Moore.

“There are a number of new faces among those named and to have Fi’s skills and experience to call on will be invaluable. She also brings fantastic skills in her position and it’s an area we need to develop with newer players. She can help us with that.

“Among this squad are a number of very talented young players who have been working hard in their clubs and provincial unions. Our talent identification programme has helped us develop depth in our wider player pool and the Black Ferns’ performance at the World Cup has given players something to aspire to.”

“We have a Black Ferns training camp in mid-June when we’ll get a much better idea of how everyone is tracking. There’s also the possibility we’ll offer a contract to players outside of the initial contracted squad.”

There are two further contracted positions to be filled, while a further 20 women will be identified to make up a wider training squad. The non-contracted players will be part of a high-performance training programme designed to identify and develop the best female rugby talent.

Nurturing talent to achieve

New Zealand Rugby’s Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton said the signing of contracts, under the newly introduced Black Ferns Performance Programme, marked a significant moment in rugby and reflected the growing interest in women’s rugby in New Zealand as well as globally.

“We have a very talented pool of female players to select from and the pool is increasing every year. We want to make sure we nurture our talent and provide our best players with the training and support they need to achieve at the highest level.

“These contracted players will receive a guaranteed retainer to train, assembly fees when they come together for Black Ferns camps and the medical and technical services they need as elite athletes.”

Sexton said girls and women were signing up to play in record numbers all around the country and it was the fastest growing area of rugby.

“It’s an exciting time for women’s rugby and I’m very proud we’ve taken the step forward to contract our female 15s players along with our sevens squad.”

The Black Ferns have three tests confirmed for this year with a two-test series against Australia in August for the Laurie O’Reilly Memorial Trophy, the matches forming double headers with the men’s Bledisloe Cup matches.

The world champions will then face USA in a triple header with the Maori All Blacks v USA Eagles and Ireland v Italy at Soldier Field in Chicago in November with additional tests still to be announced.

The contracts provide:

Guaranteed retainer for one year (the Memorandum of Understanding with NZRPA is due for renegotiation in 2019)